Warrior Priest of Dmon-Li: The Morcyth Saga Book Three by Brian S. Pratt Read Free Book Online

while at the same time move in his direction.
    “Miko!” he cries out as another wave crashes
into him, pushing him beneath the water. When he regains the
surface, Miko is nowhere to be seen upon the churning waters.
“Miko!” he screams as loud as he can. Desperately looking around,
he begins to fear for his friend when he still is unable to find
him.
    Jiron is almost out of sight as well where
he’s still clinging to what’s left of the dinghy.
    Doing his best, he tries to remain above the
surface as wave after wave crashes into him. Gasping for air as he
fights to stay afloat, he’s repeatedly being pushed under the water
by the incessant crashing of the waves.
    In a moment’s respite, he looks around and
realizes Jiron is no longer visible upon the waves. The warship has
disappeared in the storm as well. Alone, frightened, he tries to
summon the magic to help stay afloat, but the constant fight simply
to remain above the surface makes it impossible for him to focus
enough for the magic to work.
    He looks up as another wave rolls into him,
taking a deep breath, he braces for the impact.

    The sound of the surf crashing on the beach
wakes him up. Lifting his head, he realizes that he’s somehow been
washed ashore. Soaked and miserable, he comes to his feet as the
wind continues whipping the rain into him. His arms and legs are
leaden and he barely has the strength to move, the effort to stay
afloat had sapped all he had.
    Moving slowly, he goes further up the beach
away from the water and then turns to look out over the waves
crashing upon the beach. “Miko! Jiron!” he hollers. Even if they
replied, it’s unlike he’d be able to hear anything over the sound
of wind and surf.
    He looks around at just where he’d been
deposited. Many waterways drain into the ocean, stunted trees and
grass cover almost every exposed piece of land. Kind of reminds him
of a swamp.
    Not willing to give the others up for lost,
he moves further away from the beach into the vegetation. After
searching around for a few minutes, he finally locates what he’s
been looking for.
    Kneeling down next to the small pool of
water, he concentrates on Miko, willing the image of his
surroundings to appear upon the water. In his exhausted state, he’s
almost unable to focus enough to call forth the magic.
    The image wavers and then suddenly comes
into clarity. He sees Miko lying upon the beach, unconscious, with
the waves crashing over him.
    In a panic that he might be washed back out
to sea, he quickly forms one of his seeker bubbles and gets up to
follow it. The bubble moves back toward the beach and then follows
the coastline to the left.
    Moving as quickly as his wobbly legs will
carry him, he makes his way along the coast as he follows the
bubble. After ten minutes, he sees a form lying in the surf, far
down the beach. Canceling the spell, he breaks into a run and races
to Miko’s side. He’s lying face down and doesn’t look to be
breathing.
    When he reaches his side, he turns him on
his back and discovers in relief that he is, in fact, still
breathing. Grabbing him under the arms, he begins to pull him up
the beach away from the pounding surf.
    Laying him in a relative safe spot, he
kneels down next to him as he tries to bring him back to
consciousness. He tries shaking him and calling his name but that
fails to work. Striking him hard across the face twice causes his
eyes to snap open. He suddenly begins coughing and then starts
vomiting up seawater.
    Leaning him on his side, he pats him on the
back until the vomiting fit is over. James then helps him to sit up
as he continues coughing until his lungs clear.
    Through red eyes, he looks around at their
surrounding and between coughs asks, “Where are we?”
    Shaking his head, James replies, “I don’t
know. There doesn’t seem to be any sign of people around here.”
    Looking around, Miko asks, “Jiron?”
    “I don’t know,” James tells him, “haven’t
found him yet.” He